MODULE 4 WEEKLY ASSIGNMENT 1

Module 4 Weekly Assignment

Molly A. Simon
Department of M.A TESOL, Campbellsville University
TSL 670: Discourse Analysis
Dr. Eduardo L. Trindade, Ph.D.
April 3rd, 2023
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Module 4 Weekly Assignment

This week’s assignment starts off with an introduction that speaks of the hidden

meanings or purposes our choice of words, or intonation may have. It reads, “For any

communication, ask not just what the speaker is saying, but what he or she is trying to do,

keeping in mind that he or she may be trying to do more than one thing.” (Gee, 2014). This

introductory sentence brought forth a distant memory of a quote I heard many times growing up.

Peter Drunker once said, “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t

said.” (Drunker, 1954). Our textbook addresses finding the unsaid through a finite, concreate

way. Meanwhile, Peter references a much more emotional tone of the unheard. Perhaps, a

connection can be drawn between the finite and emotion. Through this paper, I will address a

few intonational patterns, conversations, and words that have deeper meanings. Specifically, I

will reveal the hidden meanings that words or intonation may have in both finite and emotional

realms.

Problem number seven starts with an overview of the two individuals involved in the

conversation. It should be noted that the conversation found in problem seven is between a

mother and a child. A study conducted in 1993, found that children who are given opportunities

to participate in problem-solving and deductive reasoning tasks with their caregiver have more

confidence (Rogoff, 1993). This is due to the fact that often times, caregivers offer immediate

positive feedback, boosting the child’s confidence (Rogoff, 1993). This is supported by the self-

efficacy theory, which proposes that positive feedback reinforces an individual’s self-efficacy

beliefs, and thus produces higher performances (Bandura, 1977). This directly relates to the

reasoning behind the mom’s energized intonation of “exactly”. In a concreate way, the mother

wants to communicate to the child that they are correct, leaving no room for the child to attempt
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another guess. Meanwhile, emotionally, the mother innately desires to boost her child’s self-

efficacy. However, this is not a mere guess. According to the psychological attachment theory,

caregivers, often mothers, naturally desire to provide a secure attachment between themselves

and their children (Bowlby, 1969). Furthermore, this theory suggests that mothers may use their

words, actions, and even intonational patterns to provide support for the relationship between

themselves and their children’s, which boosts self-esteem and confidence (Bowlby, 1969).

Therefore, the energized tone of a single word from a mother towards her child may not seem

foundational, but it has a significant number of hidden meanings and purposes.

As referenced before, the mother specifically chose the word 'exactly' in response to the

child's guess of what the object was; her intention was to cease the child from thinking they had

said the wrong answer. The mother knew the child was making a guess based upon the child’s

usage of ‘this looks like’. A study conducted in 2005 found that children tend to use tentative

language and linguistic hedges when unsure of an answer (Weisman, 2005). These two concepts

refer the usage of phrases such as, “I think…” or “It seems like…” and “This looks like…” to

express uncertainty rather than confidence (Weisman, 2005). Children often use tentative

language and linguistic hedges to indicate their doubt to adults, signaling their desire for help

with their abilities (Koenig, 2005). As the child’s mother, the mom in this conversation noticed

her child’s desires and reacted accordingly. Specifically, the mother states, “How did you

know?”. There are two routes of analyzing her response: finitely and emotionally. Finitely, the

mother may not necessarily be seeking an answer to the question itself, but instead may be solely

seeking to further the conversation (Grice, 1975). This is in line with the maxims theory of

conversation. This theory proposes that questions such as, “How did you know?” are used to

bring forth more information from their conversing partner or have them consider a particular
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point of view (Grice, 1975). Thus, the mother may not implicitly desire a direct answer from

their child but is rather prompting them to engage further. Emotionally, the mother may by

desiring for their child to use context clues to support their answer of ‘egg’. It is stated in our

textbook, that there a card on the table that reads, “Replica of a dinosaur egg. From the

oviraptor”. While the child may not know words such as ‘replica’, ‘dinosaur’ or ‘oviraptor’, they

can simply point to the word ‘egg’ on the sheet of paper to support their answer. This may have

been exactly what the mother had desired for their child to do in response to, ‘How did you

know?’. According to Piaget’s theory, parents and caregivers play an important role in teaching

their children to develop sophisticated mental operations such as the ability to make logical

connections (Piaget, 1952). Therefore, the mother may have had an emotional reaction to

fulfilling this role as the child’s mother, which ultimately lead to her questioning the child’s

answer with, ‘How did you know?’

Instead of the logical answer the mother desired, the child answered with ‘Because it

looks like it.’ This child responded to their mother with a very flat, unsupported answer. Yes, it

is a child, and yes, the object most likely looked like an egg, but it goes deeper than that. The

social learning theory proposes that children oftentimes mimic their parents when they say, “Just

because.” (Bandura, 1963). As adults, we often times neglect explaining ourselves to children,

believing that it may be futile. However, this directly leads to children believing they can also

supply non-explanatory responses such as “Just because.” or “Because it looks like it.” In a

reaction to her child’s bland answer, the mother directs the child towards the realm of the

response she originally desired. She states, ‘That’s what it says [here on the card].’ The mother

does this in a direct attempt to steer her child towards realizing that the support for their answer

was right in front of them. The mother utilized the constructivist approach to guide her child
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toward the answer, rather than plainly supplying it to them (Vygotsky, 1978). While the

constructivist approach has roots in psychology, it is often used in reference to education

(Vygotsky, 1978). It is postulated that through the use of the constructivist approach

children/students construct educational pathways towards long term problem solving and

inquiry-based skills (Vygotsky, 1978). Thus, the mother may have both emotionally and finitely

desired to utilize the constructive approach due to its many benefits for both her child and their

cognitive responses.

In the first half of this assignment, we dealt with a conversation between a mother and

child. However, in the second half of this assignment we will be dealing with an entirely

different realm. The interview found on page 179 involves two interviewees for a paper written

in 1992. For ease of explanation, the first interviewee will now be referenced as Mr. Brown. To

start, Mr. Brown explains his figured world in excerpt one. A figured world refers to frames of

meaning in which interpretations of human actions are negotiated (Holland, 1998, p. 271). First,

Mr. Brown clues us into his figured world as one that involves success that is entirely dependent

on individual effort and determination. This can be concluded through his statement of, ‘If I want

to succeed, I’ll succeed.’ (Gee, 2014). Thus, it can be assumed that Mr. Brown does not consider

external factors as a reason for failure. In a study conducted in 2017, it was concluded that there

exists a direct relationship between locus of control, self-efficacy, and success (Krauss, 2017).

Specifically, this study postulates that those who believe they have control over their lives are

more likely to attribute their success to their own abilities, rather than external factors such as

luck or circumstances (Krauss, 2017). Therefore, of course Mr. Brown’s figured world would

leave out the role of external factors in success; Mr. Brown has complete control over his

success, he can either work the Sundays and succeed, or refuse to work Sundays and fail. To
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compare, in the case Mr. Brown was an immigrant worker who was refused hours due to his

race, his figured world would differ greatly. This would be a situation in which he had no

control, thus his confidence in his success would dissipate and his figured world would alter. The

second interviewee found in the second excerpt, postulates a slightly different figured world.

This interviewee will be addressed as Mr. Doe. Mr. Doe assumes a figured world in which

workers are at the mercy of their employers. This can be assumed by his usage of, ‘you had to

change or keep losing that eight hours pay.’ (Gee, 2014) Furthermore, Mr. Doe speaks of the

difficult decisions individuals must make based on economic necessity in his figured world. He

communicates that within his figured world by postulating that people must make sacrifices to

make ends meet and adapt to circumstances. In Mr. Doe’s words, ‘go with the flow’ (Gee, 2014).

Overall, Mr. Brown’s and Mr. Doe’s figured worlds differ in their emphasis of individual efforts

and external factors. Mr. Brown assumes that success is entirely up to the individual. Meanwhile,

Mr. Doe recognizes the influence of external factors such as, employers, contracts, and financial

pressures.

Just as our textbook states, both Mr. Brown and Mr. Doe may find themselves struggling

with inner conflict, regardless of which figure world they believed in. Naturally, humans find

someone or something to blame in the state of failure (Balcetis, 2010). To start, these two men

may blame themselves. While it may seem that Mr. Doe is more likely to blame himself, Mr.

Brown may also fall into the same category. According to the self-serving bias theory, people

often attribute positive events to their own internal abilities (Brown, 2010). However, in the

same sense, people may also attribute their failure to their lack of abilities (Brown 2010).

Consequently, Mr. Brown and Mr. Doe may put the blame on themselves in the form of ‘I did

not do enough’ or ‘I could have done more’. On the flip side, Mr. Brown and Mr. Doe may also
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blame others or even their environment. According to the fundamental attribution error theory,

people have a tendency to overemphasize their predisposition of external factors (Jones, 1967).

Thus, both of these men may look towards their boss, their company, or even their families as

reasons for their failure, rather than themselves. Subsequently, these two men may find

themselves drawing conclusions such as ‘if it weren’t for my boss’ or ‘if it weren’t for my

family’.

Through this paper, I addressed a few intonational patterns, conversations, and words that

have deeper meanings. Specifically, I revealed the hidden meanings that words or intonation may

have in both finite and emotional realms. Additionally, I discussed two figure worlds and how

they differ from one another. Finally, I discussed the specifics of how Mr. Brown or Mr. Doe

may push or place the blame for their failure on themselves or others. This assignment was all

about delving deep into the words and hidden meanings of individuals. Just as Drunker said, we

should always remember to consider the words that are left unsaid while we openly communicate

with one another.

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References

Balcetis, E., & Dunning, D. (2010). Wishful seeing: More desired objects are seen as closer.

Psychological science, 21(1), 147-152.

Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological

Review, 84(2), 191-215.

Bandura, A., & Walters, R. H. (1963). Social learning and personality development. New York:

Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and Loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. Basic Books.

Brown, J. D. (2010). Understanding the better than average effect: Motives (still) matter.

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36(2), 328–341.

Drucker, P. F. (1954). The Practice of Management. Harper & Row.

Gee, J.P. (2014). How to do discourse analysis: A toolkit (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In P. Cole & J. Morgan (Eds.), Syntax and

Semantics 3: Speech Acts (pp. 41-58). Academic Press.

Holland, D. C., Lachicotte, W., Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (1998). Identity and agency in cultural

worlds. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Jones, E. E., & Harris, V. A. (1967). The attribution of attitudes. Journal of Experimental Social

Psychology, 3(1), 1-24.

Krauss, S. E., & Hamzawi, A. (2017). Locus of control and academic achievement: Is self-

efficacy a mediator? Social Psychology of Education, 20(1), 141-157.

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Piaget, J. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. New York: International Universities

Press.

Rogoff, B., Mistry, J., Göncü, A., Mosier, C., Chavajay, P., & Heath, S. B. (1993). Guided

participation in cultural activity by toddlers and caregivers. Monographs of the Society

for Research in Child Development, i-176.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.